Bridge-stop for slide fasteners or the like



Mamh 395% I w. A'.-ERHARDT,,JR 2,501,643

BRIDGE-STOP FOR suns-mums OR Tl-IE LIKE Filed Aug. "7, 1947 INVENTO Patented Man 2 1,, 1950 :umrso STATES PATENTOFFICE.

2,501,643 BRIDGE-STOP FOR suns FASTENERS on THE LIKE William A. Erhardt, In, Philadelphia, Pa. Application August 7, 1947, Serial No. 787,125

1 Claim. (oi. 24-2 541) The present invention relates to bridge-stops for slide-fasteners or the like and it relates more particularly to anew and improved bridge-stop construction which will more effectively maintain the flexible slide-fastener beads in spacedapart relationship at th side which carries the fastener elements while bringing the bridges into contiguous relationship at the other side.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved construction for bridge-stops for slide-fasteners. Another object of the present invention is to provide a slide-fastener bridge-stop which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and install and which is sturdy and dependable and which, at the same time, will efl'ect a neat closure for the slidefastener.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed escription, appended claim and accompanying grawings.

It has been suggested in the past to provide bridge-stops for slide-fasteners for the purpose of maintaining the beads in spaced-apart relationship at the side which carries the fastener elements (in order to permit the slider to workfreely to the end of the fastener) and, at the same time, to bring the beads closer together on the other sideof the stop to make a neater appearance. Thus, Norton Patent 2,063,879 suggests the use of a generally enclosed curved tubular element having open ends into which the beads extend; the beads being enclosed within the tubular element and emerging therefrom in generally side-by-side relationship. Norkin 2,397,-

037 shows a slightly modified construction wherein the bridge-stop is more or less skeletonized so that only four pairs of curved tines extend from the sides of the bridging-portion and grip the beads so as to hold them against the curved bridging-portion.

However, these conventional constructions have certain disadvantages in that they are rather dimcult to produce and install and, moreover, tend to fail or loosen during use.

According to the present invention, I provide a novel bridge-stop construction which effects a neat closure for th slide-fastener and which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and install and which eliminates the shortcomings of the prior-art so as to provide a firm and dependable gripping action.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred,

although it is to be understood that the various 55 instrumentalities or which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and organizations of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout:

Figure 1 represents a plan view showing a "blank" stamped from sheet metal or the like as a preliminiary stage in the form of the bridgestop of the present invention.

Figure 2 represents a side elevational view oi the blank of Figure 1.

Figure 3 represents a perspective view showing the bridge-stop as it appears when ready for installation on the slide-fastener heads; the blank" of Figures 1 and 2 having been modified by curving up the intermediate bridging-portion and by bending the intermediate pairs of gripping tines or claws into partially closed relationship.

Figure 4 represents a front elevational view showing the novel bridge-stop of th present invention as it appears when installed upon the slide-fastener; the fastener-carrying beads being shown in open relationship.

Figure 5 represents a view generally like that of Figure 4 but showing the slide-fastener in fully-closed position.

In one embodiment of the present invention shown in Figures 1-5, I may provide a bridgestop indicated generally by the reference character id.

The bridge-stop may be integrally formed from sheet metal or the like by first stamping out a blank," shown in Figures 1 and 2, which includes left and right wing portions ii and i2 and an intermediate bridging-portion 88.

Left and right pairs of side members it and iii respectively extend laterally from the bridgingportion it.

Opposed gripping tines or claws it and ii are formed at the ends of the left and right wings H and i2 respectively.

After the blank shown in Figures 1 and 2 is stamped out, it is bent into the form shown in Figure 3 by use of any conventional dies, in a manner well-known in the art. Thus, as shown in Figure 3, the bridging-portion I3 is curved upward relative to the wings II and i2, and the members ll and I5 are curved toward each other so as to form opposed pairs of gripping tines or claws. The wings H and i2 (and the tines l8 and I1) still lie in generally the same plane while the tines ll lie in a plane generally at 45 to the wing II and the tines I! lie in a plane generally at 45 to the wing 12; the planes of the pairs of tines H and I5 forming generally a right angle which is bisected by the center-line of the slidefastener when the bridge-stop is installed in the manner shown in Figure 4.

In installing the bridge-stop I upon its slidei'astener, the left and right flexible beads 19 and I9, which carry the fastener elements 20, are positioned so that they overlie the curved bridging-portion i3; the bead l8 passing intermediate the tines l6 and the tines ll while the bead I9 similarly passes intermediate the tines H and the tines IS.

The tines l4 and I5 and I B and H are then clamped together by any suitable clamping tool or mechanism so as to cause them to hold the beads in immovable relationship to the bridgestop. As can be seen in Figure 4, the fastenerelement-carrying portions of the beads 18 and I9 are maintained in generally parallel spacedapart relationship (with the tines l8 and H at right angles thereto). The beads extend across the curved bridging-portion I3 of the bridge-stop and emerge from the upper tines l4 and 15 at a converging angle of approximately 45 which tends to bring the beads together a short distance above the bridge-stop.

As indicated in Figure 5, the bridge-stop is effective in retaining the beads l8 and I! in proper spaced relationship to permit the slider 2| to work easily right up to the bridge-stop.

It is evident that the tines I6 and I! are not bent relative to the plane of the wings ii and I2.'

I have found that this adds greatly to the strength of the bridge-stop and minimizes the possibility of failure. That is, in a construction of the type shown in Norkin Patent 2,397,037, the necessity for bending up the outer tines so that they form a relatively sharp angle relative to their base weakens them considerably so that they are apt to fail under the continued stress resulting from repeated opening and closing of the slidefastener. In the novel construction of the present invention, on the other hand, these side tines l6 and H are not weakened by any severe bending operation and, therefore, are sufllciently strong to withstand all normal stresses.

It is also apparent that the novel bridge-stop of the present invention is much more easily formed than the structures of the prior-art inasmuch as the blank requires only simple bending operation of the bridging-portion and of the upper ends of the tines H and 15, as compared to the more complex bending operations required by the prior-art structures.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claim rather than to the foregoing dezfription to indicate the scope of the inven- Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent:

In a slide-fastener having a pair of flexible fastener-carrying beads, a bridge-stop integrally formed of sheet metal or the like, said bridgestop having an uppermost central downwardlybent bridging portion and having a wing-portion extending from each end of said bridging portion and reversely bent relative thereto so as to extend generally horizontally, the free end of each of said wing-portions being formed as a pair of opposed claws bent only in the plane of the wingportion and constructed and arranged to grip the beads and to maintain them in generally vertical spaced-apart relationship, and pairs of upwardly-inclined curved claws integrally with and extending from the edges of said bridgingportion and constructed and arranged to grip the heads at points spaced upwardly and inwardly from the first-mentioned claws thereby to maintain said beads in upwardly converging relationship above said bridge-stop.

WM. A. ERHARDT, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,231,645 Ulrich Feb. 11, 1941 2,342,418 Marinsky Feb. 22, 1944 2,397,037 Norkin Mar. 19, 1946 

